Exclusive: Paul Barber ANSWERS the questions every Brighton fan wanted to ask.

[Brighton Breezy]

Well, Mr Barber replied to my previously posted questions by about 3pm this afternoon. Only just checked my email or I would have got them up sooner.

Some of the questions are predictably avoiding the issue / no comment type responses, but as a whole Q&A it will no doubt interest a few people on here. A few key lines in there make interesting reading.

Paul Barber answers the question every Brighton fan wanted to ask

 

[El Presidente]

Well, Mr Barber replied to my previously posted questions by about 3pm this afternoon. Only just checked my email or I would have got them up sooner.

Some of the questions are predictably avoiding the issue / no comment type responses, but as a whole Q&A it will no doubt interest a few people on here. A few key lines in there make interesting reading.

Paul Barber answers the question every Brighton fan wanted to ask

Great stuff Walt, Barber comes across as being as transparent as the situation allows him to be. Keep up the good work Walt!

 

[Giraffe]

Perhaps the heading to the thread should be

Exclusive: Paul Barber ANSWERS SOME of the questions every Brighton fan wanted to ask (But not the important ones).

Sorry Walt, but a quick scan down doesn't add anything that we didn't know, other than the same old answer on the membership scheme.

But I applaud your efforts anyway.

 

[Munchkin]

Errrr Answers what questions ??

Just going over old ground and confirming answers to questions that ave already been asked. Pointless

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Thanks for doing that, and kudos to you that he replies, but there is nothing interesting in his replies I'm afraid. Well, apart from saying that he knows of absolutely no reason why any fan would be against the proposed membership scheme

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Just posted this on the previous thread:-

Fair play to PB for answering so quickly - how many other CEO's would do that on a Sunday afternoon - even if there may not be the full information some people are asking for.

And fair play to Walt for asking them in the first place.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

It does say in the piece that he "sort of..." answers them. The best I can hope to get without any real clout behind me. I am just a bloke doing a blog, which makes it very difficult to demand fuller answers in the way The Argus could.

A few lines I thought were interesting were:

- "The unique culture and history of our club must always be remembered and respected (and is) but equally it cannot and should not be used as a barrier to change at a time when football is, once again, changing all around us – whether we all like it or not."

- The plans to introduce regular surveys of different fan groups and hold more regular meetings at the stadium for fans to be able to put their questions more openly and directly to key members of our staff.

- Pre-season/summer planning has "progressed without any delays since the season ended". In which case, how involved was Poyet going to be in this? Was the club already planning for this contingency before the shit hit the fan?

- The fact he talks to / reports to Tony Bloom on an almost daily basis. They seem very much a strongly cemented double-act now.

- David Burke is handling player recruitment, "As is normally the case at this and other times of the year." Does that suggest the Albion favour the more continental approach? Have all our signings over the last couple of season's actually been Poyet's choices? Hard to tell, but possible food for thought.

Sorry this Q&A does not have anything particularly ground-breaking, but I said I would put the replies on line regardless of how well he answered them.

Don't shoot the messenger...

 

[Deadly Danson]

Again, perfectly reasonable answers considering the legal shackles he will be under. Even if some don't like his answers (and I can't find anything I disagree with in what he says) no one can dispute that he's maintaining a constant dialogue with fans, responding in detail with as much info as he can provide. But ultimately nothing new there sadly.

 

[dougdeep]

Well done Mr Barber. I can't imagine many of our previous execs being that forthcoming.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Did he really say we have hundreds of thousands of fans?

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Well done Walt excellent.

Inevitably Paul Barber would not answer Poyet related questions.

The reliance on David Burke is interesting as I still maintain that a new manager, surely will have his own thoughts re player personnel.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Thank you Walt.

 

[Biscuit]

Well, that answered nothing.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

It does say in the piece that he "sort of..." answers them. The best I can hope to get without any real clout behind me. I am just a bloke doing a blog, which makes it very difficult to demand fuller answers in the way The Argus could.

A few lines I thought were interesting were:

- "The unique culture and history of our club must always be remembered and respected (and is) but equally it cannot and should not be used as a barrier to change at a time when football is, once again, changing all around us – whether we all like it or not."

- The plans to introduce regular surveys of different fan groups and hold more regular meetings at the stadium for fans to be able to put their questions more openly and directly to key members of our staff.

- Pre-season/summer planning has "progressed without any delays since the season ended". In which case, how involved was Poyet going to be in this? Was the club already planning for this contingency before the shit hit the fan?

- The fact he talks to / reports to Tony Bloom on an almost daily basis. They seem very much a strongly cemented double-act now.

- David Burke is handling player recruitment, "As is normally the case at this and other times of the year." Does that suggest the Albion favour the more continental approach? Have all our signings over the last couple of season's actually been Poyet's choices? Hard to tell, but possible food for thought.

Sorry this Q&A does not have anything particularly ground-breaking, but I said I would put the replies on line regardless of how well he answered them.

Don't shoot the messenger...

Andy Naylor isn't going to like it when he comes back from holiday and finds out he has some serious competition in the news gathering stakes.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Was disappointed not to get an answer about the time-frame of Poyet's suspension and when the club expects it to be concluded. But, as I said above, I am just a bloke writing a blog so can't carry the same demand for answers that The Argus can.

Also, I agreed to print the responses in full, otherwise the information could have been written in the style of stories. Therefore a quick non-response about a club deadline would become "Brighton have refused to say when they expect the on-going saga over Gus Poyet's suspension to be concluded, leading to fears among supporters it could drag on and derail pre-season plans..." type piece.

The most frustrating aspect is that I doubt very much many of the actual details will come to light in public. Any agreement between the club and Poyet is likely to include a gagging order type aspect I would imagine to protect both party's integrity.

I think the most interesting aspect for fans would be confirmation of WHEN the alleged breaches of contract took place because I don't think all the dates would necessarily be what people expect...

 

[Dave the OAP]

Am I the only one who read into that, upson is not on his way here?

The other question I would have asked is " regarding the academy and the fact that we fail to play even the most outstanding of youngsters, Forster-caskey....is the academy there to be seen as a conveyor belt whe we produce decent( hopefully) young players to be sold on as a revenue stream?"

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Did he really say we have hundreds of thousands of fans?

If you include all those who watch the live televised games that are shown around the world as a casual fan then the statement could be accurate.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Congrats Walt, good job and congrats Paul Barber you clearly have respect for the fans by the way in which you are prepared to answer the questions, as much as you can, and the fact that do so within a very short timeframe, thank you.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

saying that he knows of absolutely no reason why any fan would be against the proposed membership scheme

This line jumped out at me as well.

I am really starting to find his language annoying; "connect" and "interact" with the club. FFS people just want to support their club and go to bloody matches.

 

[Richard Tiltmans Shin Pad]

Was disappointed not to get an answer about the time-frame of Poyet's suspension and when the club expects it to be concluded. But, as I said above, I am just a bloke writing a blog so can't carry the same demand for answers that The Argus can.

Also, I agreed to print the responses in full, otherwise the information could have been written in the style of stories. Therefore a quick non-response about a club deadline would become "Brighton have refused to say when they expect the on-going saga over Gus Poyet's suspension to be concluded, leading to fears among supporters it could drag on and derail pre-season plans..." type piece.

The most frustrating aspect is that I doubt very much many of the actual details will come to light in public. Any agreement between the club and Poyet is likely to include a gagging order type aspect I would imagine to protect both party's integrity.

I think the most interesting aspect for fans would be confirmation of WHEN the alleged breaches of contract took place because I don't think all the dates would necessarily be what people expect...

Oh you tease.........